Pinnacle Peak
Every Wednesday that we have been in Arizona, Tammy has been able to meet up with her Mom and hike Pinnacle Peak. Most of the time Mazie has been able to join her, but I was working so I couldn’t join. This week I’m on vacation and Tammy and I got to hike it together. It is a great route and the trail was impeccably maintained. They even have volunteers that are there to call for help if anyone needs it.
Tammy and I hiked from the trailhead to the end which was 2 miles. We went all the way to the end and touched the gate at marker 101. 436 feet of climbing that way. On the way back Tammy and I went at our own pace, and we both decided to push it.
She quickly left me in the dust. On the way back, the trail immediately climbs steadily for a half-mile and I was “redlined” at 170+ bpm the entire way up. You also get to climb more on the way back with 732 feet of elevation in the 2 mile return route. It turns out the end of the trail is about 300 feet lower than the trailhead!
View of Pinnacle Peak from the beginning of the trail. You never do get to the peak.
Can’t get enough of the Saguaro cactus all around the trail.
You can see Scottsdale and the surrounding Phoenix area very well from here.
Golf courses really stand out in the desert landscape. As do the incredible houses in this area.
You climb and descend twice on this trail. Here you can see the trail on the other side climbing up the second mountain.
Stairs in the trail on the descent toward the end of the trail.
Strenuous indeed. 💦
Drive-in movie at West Wind in Glendale, AZ! There must be 10 screens here. 🤩 Seeing Tom & Jerry. 🍿
Chelsea’s Kitchen
Tammy and I had a delicious lunch today at Chelsea’s Kitchen! We started with Prickly Pear Margaritas, one of our favorites. The New Mexico Hatch Chili Queso let the Hatch Chili’s shine. The Green Chile Cornbread was delicious with a touch of heat and sweetness. We finished with the LGO Reserve Short Rib Tacos. Thanks to my brother Isaiah and his wife Tiffany for the recommendation!
Trail panorama on Infinity Loop Hike.
Infinity Loop Hike
This morning Tammy and I hiked the Infinity Loop trail in Dreamy Draw. We were looking for a longer hike without much elevation today, so this 5 mile loop with just 500 feet of elevation worked well. Plus, we got to make an Infinity Loop ♾ with our tracks!
It was a good hike but we would have lost the trail a dozen times if we weren’t tracking it with the All Trails app. There are no markers and there are dozens of intersecting trails.
Recognizing International Women’s Day 2021 and Choosing to Challenge! We will advocate for and support the women in our lives. #ChooseToChallenge #IWD2021
See IWD 2024, 2021, 2020, 2020 @ SPS, and 2018.
Silver King Smokehouse
We took a drive today and for lunch stopped at Silver King Smokehouse in Superior. It was a spectacular lunch most centered around brisket. Their brisket was phenomenal and they had a great outdoor area with picnic tables. If you find yourself in the area, get yourself some delicious barbecue.
It was family movie night and we watched Flora & Ulysses. It is a fun story about a squirrel with superpowers. 🍿
Desert Botanical Garden
Wanting to experience even more desert plant life we visited the Desert Botanical Garden today and it was incredible. Everywhere you looked there were great displays. It was a great day to walk around and take in the great scenery and learn more about various cactus and plants.
A dense field of various cactus.
I loved the red needles on these cactus.
Saguaro cactus with Cholla cactus in the foreground.
At first we thought these giants were Saguaro but they are actually Cardon cactus that grow even bigger. They are less resilient to cold so they do not grow native in Arizona.
Very rare Crested Saguaro cactus.
These Chihuly glass sculptures were incredible.
Music Instrument Museum
We visited the Music Instrument Museum today. This place was absolutely incredible. You could spend an entire day here pretty easily. They had an amazing breadth of musical instruments and musician specific content. You got a wireless headphone that you wore and as you approached various displays you would start hearing the sound, automatically.
We could have used more time to explore. They also did very good with COVID-19 precautions. They sold only timed tickets and only allowed a limited number of people. Everyone wore masks all the time. It felt very safe. This is the only indoor thing we have done here in Arizona.
Mazie posing in front of the Music Instrument Museum.
Giant string instrument.
They many of these artist displays and the sound would just start in your headphones as you approached.
The video that went with this about how a Steinway piano is created was amazing.
There were displays for various countries and their specific music. They had a well populated section on Ukraine.
Family selfie in front of a variety of guitars.